The Pittsburg Library
gets a facelift with a lot of help from friends
By Robert
Barnwell, President of the Library Board
The Library is
jointly supported by the City and County, along with donations, and the Friends
of the Library. When I was asked to
serve on the Board, I had no idea the Library was such an asset to the County
and that it is used even a small percent of what it is.
In 2014, the City and County decided to
appoint a new Board, which consists of four from the City and four from the County.
After the second meeting, the Board informed the librarian that from this day
forward, the Board would preside over the Board meetings and the Board would
set the policies and the staff would manage the Library and enforce the
policies. The next day, the librarian
resigned, leaving the Board with only an inexperienced staff. June 1, 2015, we hired Lily Marshall, who had
worked there for 19 years, as our Librarian and kept the rest of the staff. Our
staff consists of Yorsheika White, Gabriella Gunter, and Ana Martinez.
The Library was built
in 1972-73, with cedar shingles on roof and top room sides. The fascia was one
– 2 x 10, one - 2 x 6, and one – 1 x 4 cedar boards, the overhang is eight feet
around the building and 10 feet on the corners.
When the fascia was
removed, there was over 16,000 pounds of weight taken off the overhang of the
building. The roof is constructed with four 18 inch ‘I’ beams on each ridge
with two foot homemade trusses for support on four foot centers. The top of the trusses have 2 x 6’s flat on
top and 2 x 4’s flat on the bottom.
The top of the
trusses are the roof and the bottom is the inside ceiling of the building with
drop ceiling panels. In approximately 1990,
the shingles were taken off and the roof was decked with 4 x 8 sheets of ¾ inch
plywood running with the trusses instead of across the trusses, then roofed
with composition shingles.
After a few years, the roof began to sag
between the trusses so badly, the decking was almost pulling off the top of the
trusses and began to leak badly when it rained.
There were places on the roof especially on the corners, that we could
lay a yard stick across the sag.
In that three feet, the
sags may be as much as two inches. Because of the severe pitch of the roof, it
was hard to find the leaks and even harder to get them repaired. The roof may
leak at the top but would not come out until 20 feet down the roof.
The contractors
finally told us they could not repair the leaks because they all had to be
repaired from the top, since the bottom of the truss was the inside
ceiling. We were given two options for
the roof.
One, to take the
whole thing off and start over or install a medal roof over the existing
roof. Had we had to take the roof off,
it would have cost more than the building originally cost. All four corners were sagging down so much,
that we could not get anyone to give us a quote to install a new roof, until we
took one corner off to see what we were dealing with.
The further we went,
the worse it got. On each corner,
instead of the purlings being on even four foot centers, they were on eight
foot centers, so they were just about to fall off the building. Once we got one
corner taken off, we were able to get a firm quote on repairing the roof.
We chose to put a
medal roof on over the existing roof stripped with 2 x 4’s instead of 1 x 4’s
running across the trusses, then use full length medal from top to bottom,
including the room on top. With the 2 x 4’s screwed to the decking, it will
prevent any further sagging and in many cases, even pulled a lot of the sag out
of the decking.
Once we were able to
get a firm bid, the problem was, where was the money going to come from? The
bid was $73,509.04 for the roof and another $11,000.00 for electrical and
inside work. This would mean, if the
work was done, it would cost the City and County each about $37,500 and with
budget restraints, they did not have the money.
We were able to get
help from Doris Pilgrim Julian Charitable
Trust in memory of Aubrey E. Pilgrim, in the amount of $ 50,000.00. So with
the help of the City, County, Library Maintenance Fund and an emergency CD, we
were able to get all the work done.
Lights were donated
from Pilgrim Bank, ceiling tile from contractor, and donations. The building is
better than it was, even when new, and is really doing well, as well as with a
totally new look. The Library has a new medal roof, new paint job, columns
under each corner for added support, new lights, new ceiling tile, new phone
lines, computer upgrades and two new air conditioners.
The benefits of the Library are growing each
month and are a real asset to the community, it’s something to be very proud
of. We now have a very efficient dedicated staff as well as Board of Directors
which consists of Robert Barnwell, Alice Johns, Carolyn Franks, Dorothy
Drayton, Janet Jones, Jim Bartholomew, Jim Tollett, and Margaret Jackson.
For
information about the Library, contact Lily Marshall, (903) 856-3302. Library FaceBook is at:
Pittsburg Camp County Public Library. Their website is at: http://www.pittsburglibrary.org/
For renewals, reserves, or to submit memorials, please contact the Public Library at 613 Quitman Street, Pittsburg, Texas 75686, 903-856-3302 or
email us.
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